The Congress has planned a countrywide protest on Thursday seeking Union home minister Amit Shah's resignation amid a row related to his remarks on BR Ambedkar, which he made on Tuesday in Rajya Sabha during the ongoing Parliament Winter Session.
The Congress will protest across the country in all Pradesh Pradesh Congress Committees (PCC) at state and district headquarter, news agency ANI reported.
Amit Shah's remarks on BR Ambedkar have stirred a massive political slugfest, with the Congress-led Opposition seizing on the comments to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government.
The attack, which came from almost all opposition parties, including Congress, TMC, DMK, RJD, Left parties, and Shiv Sena-UBT, led to the adjournment of both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday and prompted the BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to defend Amit Shah.
What did Amit Shah say about BR Ambedkar
It all started from Amit Shah's remarks on Tuesday in Rajya Sabha that Congress leaders would have got a place in heaven had they chanted the name of God rather than following the “fashion of repeating Ambedkar’s name”.
"Abhi ek fashion ho gaya hai - Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. Itna naam agar bhagwan ka lete to saat janmon tak swarg mil jata (It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar'. If they had taken God's name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven)," Shah had said.
{{/usCountry}}"Abhi ek fashion ho gaya hai - Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. Itna naam agar bhagwan ka lete to saat janmon tak swarg mil jata (It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar'. If they had taken God's name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven)," Shah had said.
{{/usCountry}}Amit Shah had also said the BJP is happy that the Congress is taking Ambedkar's name but the party should also speak about its real sentiments towards him.
Amit Shah's Ambedkar remarks lead to political row
The remarks by Amit Shah snowballed into a massive political row with the Congress and other opposition parties demanding his resignation for what they called was an insult to the architect of the Constitution.
The ruckus in Parliament also spilled on to the streets of Delhi and places as far as Maharashtra, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. In Delhi, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal led hundreds of supporters to gather outside BJP office and protest noisily amid slogans "Amit Shah maafi mango, Amit Shah sharm karo".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi had any respect for Ambedkar, he should sack the home minister today itself in case Shah does not quit on his own.
What PM Modi said
Meanwhile, amid severe backlash from the opposition, PM Modi defended Amit Shah on Wednesday saying, “If the Congress and its rotten ecosystem think their malicious lies can hide their misdeeds of several years, especially their insult towards Dr. Ambedkar, they are gravely mistaken.”
Also Read | ‘Malicious lies’: PM Narendra Modi reacts to row over Amit Shah's remark on BR Ambedkar
“The people of India have seen time and again how one Party, led by one dynasty, has indulged in every possible dirty trick to obliterate the legacy of Dr. Ambedkar and humiliate the SC/ST communities,” PM Modi said in a post on X.
Amit Shah, too, held a press conference on Wednesday and accused Congress of being "anti-BR Ambedkar and anti-Constitution".
He also responded to Kharge's call for his resignation, saying it would not make a difference to the Congress party's fate. Shah also claimed that the Congress party would remain in opposition for the next 15 years, regardless of his resignation.